'Messiah' to fill the air at Trinity, New Harmony Granary

• By Roger McBain
• Evansville Courier & Press
• Posted December 9, 2010 at 12:31 a.m.

Article Highlights

• The New Harmony concert will fulfill a wish Jane Owen expressed to Savia at one of their first meetings, some two decades ago, said the conductor

Courtesy Catchlight Photography Members of the Evansville Philharmonic Chorus sing in Trinity United Methodist Church in a previous performance of George Frideric Handel's "Messiah."

A virgin shall conceive, a trumpet shall sound and audiences shall rise for the "Hallelujah" chorus when the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and soloists perform George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" this weekend in historic halls in Evansville and New Harmony, Ind.

Handel's most beloved oratorio will soar through the vaulted ceiling of Trinity United Methodist Church on Saturday, in a garlanded, ribboned and candle-lit performance featuring guest soloists, the orchestra and chorus.

Afternoon light will illuminate the open-beamed hall of the Rapp-Owen Granary Sunday afternoon, as the same ensemble presents a more intimate "Messiah" in a memorial performance for New Harmony's late patron of the arts, Jane Blaffer Owen.

Courtesy Catchlight Photography Principal bassoonist Edwin Lacey and principal oboist Elizabeth Robertson play with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in a previous production of George Frideric Handel´s "MessiahÓ in Trinity United Methodist Church.

Alfred Savia, the orchestra's music director, looks forward to conducting "Messiah" again at Trinity, where the orchestra and chorus last presented the oratorio in 2007.

And the New Harmony concert will fulfill a wish Jane Owen expressed to Savia at one of their first meetings, some two decades ago, said the conductor.

First off, however, "I'm just so glad we're going back to Trinity," he said. From his initial visit to the 19th-century Tudor gothic sanctary, he knew it was the right place to present the oratorio. "I said 'This is it.' There was no question."

With its surrounding balcony, its open, vaulted ceiling and its traditional configuration, the sanctuary, built in 1866, "is ideal acoustically," Savia said. "The size and even the shape of the church are very much like the church where 'Messiah' was first done in Dublin in 1741."

"New Harmony also is an especially meaningful place for me," he said. "I met Jane Owen shortly after I arrived in Evansville in 1989. One of the first things we talked about was doing a 'Messiah' in New Harmony."

They discussed it again later, as the historic granary building, first built in 1818, underwent rebuilding and restoration in 1999. After its completion, Savia went on to conduct the orchestra in the Granary, performing several other works there over the years, but never a "Messiah."

After Owen's death in June, members of the orchestra and chorus performed for a July memorial service. Savia was unable to attend because of conducting duties in another city.

"I'm glad I can at least pay tribute to her with this," he said.

Both concerts will use chamber music configurations, with 27 instrumentalists and 38 singers in Evansville and six fewer instruments in New Harmony, to accommodate the Rapp-Owen Granary's space, "which is smaller, and ultra-reverbrative," Savia said.

The arias will feature three familiar voices and a new one. Steven Stolen of Indianapolis, who has performed with the orchestra in Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," will sing feature tenor parts. Jennifer Lane of Denton, Texas, featured in the Philharmonic's last performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9", will sing the alto role. And Jon Truitt, head of vocal music and director of the opera program at the University of Evansville, will return in the baritone part.

This year's "Messiah" will mark the Evansville Philharmonic debut for soprano Linda Lister, a new voice faculty member at UE.

IF YOU GO

What: The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus and guest artists present George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" by candlelight.

When: Concert begins at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, with a public reception afterward.

Where: Trinity United Methodist Church, 216 SE Third St.

Tickets: $17 ($19 if purchased online). For reservations or information, call (812) 425-5050 or visit www.evansvillephilharmonic.org

Broadcast: A digital broadcast of the performance will air from 7 to 9 p.m. Dec. 24 on WNIN-88.3 FM.

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What: The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus and guest artists will perform George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" in memorial to the late Jane Owen.

When: 3 p.m., Sunday

Where: The Rapp-Owen Granary, New Harmony, Ind.

For reservations, call (812) 682-3050 by Friday. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door Sunday.

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